Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel.) is a perennial grass native to intertidal saline marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts in the United States. It is used in numerous restoration projects to decrease coastal erosion. In Louisiana, one smooth cordgrass variety, ‘Vermilion’ (unpatented), is used extensively. The widespread use of a single variety reduces genetic variation, thus reducing the ability to adapt to environmental changes. ‘LA11-103’, along with ‘LA11-101’ (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 13/507,358)and ‘LA11-102’ (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 13/507,345), were invented to provide genetically diverse smooth cordgrass varieties for northern Gulf of Mexico restoration projects.
Smooth cordgrass seeds were collected from one hundred twenty-six (126) smooth cordgrass populations throughout Louisiana in 1998. Preliminary work, which preceded this invention, evaluated smooth cordgrass plant survival and vigor in natural marsh environments and freshwater production ponds (Ryan, 2003. utils.louislibraries.org/cgi-bin/lz0050.x?sitecode=LALUelib?http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-1110103-133154/ and Ryan et al., Journal of Aquatic Plant Management, 45:90-99, 2007). In the preliminary work, no efforts were made to asexually reproduce ‘LA11-103’ for any purpose other than to provide plant material for plant performance evaluations. The new smooth cordgrass varieties (‘LA11-101’, ‘LA11-102’, and ‘LA11-103’) were designated as varieties and reproduced asexually beginning in 2010. ‘LA11-103’ has a unique and stable genotype, as determined by molecular marker profiles.